Thursday, October 30, 2014

This year was extra fun since Jubal was able to invite a friend to go with us. Garrett is his best buddy, and they, along with Gentry, had a wonderful time. Even if they don't remember all of our years past at the fair, I'm certain this year was memorable. Larson & I even had fun doing exactly what three little boys told us to do. ;)

We got there around 5:30, before it got dark. I like getting there early and watching it get dark while we're there. When you first walk in, they have displays of different things and the boys wanted to try everything out.

The first thing the boys wanted to ride was the merry-go-round. Of course I had to get my annual picture. Times sure have changed. We no longer have to hold either boy for pictures. They each had their own horse this year.

Gentry's classic "cheese" face. Love it! :)

I love the memories we make each year. This is something I look forward to every year. I hope to have a merry-go-round pic for years to come.

Next up was all of the kiddie rides. They rode just about every single ride there, too. I tried to get pics of all of them, but sometimes I would go ahead and jump in the next ride's line while they were on another ride to save time because those lines were long.

This is the only ride that my best friend's daughter rode with the boys. We all got separated after this ride because obviously little girls like different things than little boys.

I'm so happy they got to ride this together, though, because we got thefunniest picture ever of them riding it. It was captured while they were coming down the little hill on the ride. Olivia's face is priceless. Garrett was frightened, as you can probably tell, and Jubal was loving it. :)

We moved on to a ride all the boys could ride together. Larson even got on some with Gentry so he wouldn't have to ride solo if they all couldn't fit in the same seat together.

The race cars were fun. Gentry wasn't able to ride this one this year because Larson couldn't ride with him and Jubal was riding with Garrett. Maybe next year.﻿

The next ride was for children & adults. If you look closely you can see Gentry holding his hands up in the air like a true pro at riding rides. It was hard to get any good pics since it was moving so fast, but I got a few.

Look at my brave baby boy. :)

Jubal & Garrett got to ride the swings. This is Jubal's first year being tall enough to ride them. Next year, Gentry will be able to, too.

It was getting late so we let the boys ride a couple of other rides before we got ready to make our way back to the exit, playing games along the way. Funny how three little plastic balls can cost $15. They each went home with a prize, though.

Before we left, though, we all got on the ferris wheel. If you know me, you know this a huge thing. I am terrifiedof heights and/or falling. I mean absolutely afraid. Like cry baby scared.

The only reason I agreed to ride is because all of the boys wanted to, and I wasn't sending Larson way up in the air with three little boys. All I could imagine was one of them getting away from him and falling out. I wanted to make sure they were safe, even if it meant my heart was going to beat out of my chest, my blood pressure was going to skyrocket, and I was likely to cry like a baby.

We all survived. Obviously. ;)

After we left the fair, we went to BK to get some food. As much as I love fair food, it was just too darn expensive. I would have loved a sausage dog. Larson likes the funnel cakes. We did pick up two bags of cotton candy for the rode, though.

It was about 11:00 when we got Garrett home. We made a fun night out of it. I hope my boys will always remember & cherish our trips to the fair each year. One day they will want to go with their friends and not us old folks, so I'm soaking up every ounce of pure joy I can now. I'm already looking forward to next year.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Jubal took his first field trip with his K-4 class this year to Poppell Farms. We go every year as a family, and still may go this weekend so Gentry can experience it, but since Jubal went this past Friday, he didn't want to turn around and go again on Sunday. We usually make our fair weekend our Poppell Farm weekend as well. This year will be a little different now that Jubal is in big school, I guess.

I so badly wanted Larson and/or I to be able to take his first field trip with him. However, because both boys were sick for so long and had to miss school, we missed a lot of work, too. Neither of us were able to take off to go. Thankfully, I have several mommy friends that were able to attend and they made sure to take plenty of pics for me. I know he had fun, whether we were there or not, and that makes me feel a little better. :)

We're usually sitting around him.

He looks happy, though.

Jubal with Mrs. Mandy's son.

Finding his pumpkin.

Got one!

Three amigos.

Jubal, his best friend, Garrett, & Little Derrick.

Jubal & Skyler.

So thankful for these mamas that looked out for me and got me these pictures throughout the day so I could see how much fun he was having. Jubal is growing up. I know there's going to be times when I can't be right beside him, but goodness, I want to be there as much as I can. I can already tell I'm going to be a stalker mom. Haha! ;)

Thankfully, our home is illness free now, but the past couple of weeks were rough. Both boys had Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease. They both ran fever for seven days straight. Their mouths were so sore and they couldn't really eat anything for days. We made one trip to the ER on a Saturday evening to try and find some relief for them. The doctor checked for strep & flu, and thankfully both tests were negative. She prescribed Magic Mouthwash and sent us home to continue to treat the fever.

By Monday, Gentry had the most awful "rash" I had ever seen. I knew it wasn't a HFM rash, so we opted to take them both back to their pediatrician. Jubal was actually getting better, other than his mouth being sore and still running a mild fever, but my poor Gentry looked miserable even though he was still all smiles.

I was trying to get a picture of his gums.

Both boys' gums were blood red & swollen so bad

that even when they tried to eat a popsicle, their gums would bleed.

It was awful! :(

Turns out, Gentry had a reaction to the infection (HFM) his body was trying to fight off already. He had Erythema Multiforme. These pictures don't even show how bad it was. We had to give him a steroid along with Benadryl for five days. After the second day, he started showing signs of improvement. By the fifth day he was well. The huge splotches all went away, and he was able to go back to school on Friday after being out since the previous week's Wednesday.

At BK for lunch after our doctor's visit.

Both boys were fever-free by Wednesday as predicted by their pediatrician. Jubal was able to return to school on Thursday, and boy was he happy to go back. They were both suffering cabin fever. I was happy to be back in our normal routine, too.

It's tough seeing your babies sick and being able to do very little, except keep them comfortable. They were so hungry, but couldn't eat. They cried and just wanted to be held. I pray for my boys and thank God for their health every single day. I know God watches over my boys, and I prayed extremely hard for Him to heal them, and that Gentry didn't have anything severe. He always answers. I give Him thanks for always watching over us, for our health, for everything He has blessed me with in this life.

A little about me...

I'm a 44 year old mama to two precious (savages ha!) boys named Jubal Talon & Gentry Slade. I'm married to my frog-turned-prince charming, Larson, and we live in a small town in southeast Georgia.

This blog is a journal that I like to keep specifically for my boys. I want to keep up with as much of our life together in these fleeting moments as possible so that maybe one day Jubal & Gentry will have something to look back on.